Trump World Grab-Bag--A Collection

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

The Benghazi Select Committee Report is 800 Pages Long

This page is very apropos to my comment, so let me just explain that this 8th investigation onto the Benghazi event has been one of the longest Congressional investigations in US history, and one of the least necessary. I'm saying that even though the Select Committee on Benghazi's very own report claims that it "Fundamentally Changes the Public’s Understanding of the 2012 Terrorist Attacks that Killed Four Americans". It does not. What they have produced is an 800 page report that is largely duplicative of earlier efforts that on balance has, as some of its weightiest criticisms, that politics played a part in statement the White House and other federal agencies made after the event, and that nothing was done to stop the tragic attacks--even though it is acknowledged that nothing could really be done in the time that elapsed and there is no real evidence that any prior concrete warning existed that such an attack would occur.

If there's any question about the part politics played in the statements made post-Benghazi attack, I'd like to point out that there's a timeline showing when this became politicized, and the answer is it happened right away, and it wasn't the Obama Administration doing it. Look at the date. Mitt Romney, the GOP candidate for president, was condemning the Obama Administration for a statement that came out of the Cairo Embassy prior to the Benghazi attack, when Secretary of State Clinton's immediate response was to condemn the perpetrators:

I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi today. As we work to secure our personnel and facilities, we have confirmed that one of our State Department officers was killed. We are heartbroken by this terrible loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and those who have suffered in this attack.

This evening, I called Libyan President Magariaf to coordinate additional support to protect Americans in Libya. President Magariaf expressed his condemnation and condolences and pledged his government’s full cooperation.

Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.

I hope this puts the travesty of trying to make political hay out of these dead patriots behind us, but as Steve M. documents here, some folks have even made this their bread and butter. I don't really expect it to end.